A complete earthquake catalogue of the Western Himalaya (latitudes 30°N–36°N and longitudes 72°E–78°E) for the period of 1501–2010 has been compiled with earthquake magnitude computed in moment magnitude (Mw) scale. Pre- and early twentieth century records of earthquake damage have been documented from rare and out of print publications. Seismotectonics and seismic hazard for Kohistan arc, Kashmir–Hazara Syntaxis, Nanga-Parbat (Western Syntaxis), Karakoram and Himachal Himalaya are discussed with special reference to 1905 Kangra and 2005 Muzaffarabad earthquakes. Analyses of spatio-temporal variation in b-value from the region indicate significant precursor prior to the 2005 Muzaffarabad earthquake; progressive rise of background b-value observed and the main shock locates close to relative high b-value domains. Regions surrounding the location of the 1905 Kangra earthquake also display such high b-value for the period of 2005–2010 that calls for closer scrutiny. Temporal analysis of b-value from the epicentral block of Muzaffarabad earthquake clearly showed a high–low b-value couplet of 1.45–0.72, which may be treated as a typical precursor before an imminent large earthquake. Gumbel extreme value statistics indicate probability of occurrence of an event of Mw > 7.0 within 50 years in the region.


Dramatic changes in juvenile justice have occurred in recent decades. One result has been the emergence of new policies and practices, many of which remain largely unexamined. One avenue for gaining insight into whether such policies and practices are needed or effective, as well as into how the juvenile justice system might be improved, is to tap into the perceptions of people who work within this system. Drawing on a national survey of juvenile court practitioners, the authors investigate key questions about the effectiveness of juvenile justice and discuss the implications of the study's findings for research, policy, and practice.


This work applied the SABiO methodology and used UFO foundational ontology to develop an ontology-driven conceptual model in the field of Health Care, focused on Infectious Communicable Diseases for Pulmonary Tuberculosis, called OntoTB. Even today, OntoTB is required, despite existing treatment and being a curable disease, Tuberculosis is one of the 10 main causes of death in the world, demanding a better understanding of the domain to support Information Systems. The model was developed and validated with the support of specialists in Epidemiology. The ontology specification presents the items: graphical representation, dictionary of terms, competence questions and quality control through technical review involving both domain specialists and the competence questions. Among the future possibilities are continuing the expansion of the ontology and developing an automated informational tool to help professionals in the field on data collection and analysis, as well as


The National Library of Scotland THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND IS CLOSE TO GEORGE IV BRIDGE IN the center of Edinburgh. In the late 1930's the foundations of the National Library's present main building were designed by Reginald Fairlie and construction began in 1937 but was not completed until 1955; the building was described by its architect as possessing "an air of frigid serenity." (1) The building has the intimidating exterior seen in some of the European architecture of the 1930's. The National Library has grown to be one of the greatest libraries in the world and is the leading center for the study of Scotland and the Scots. The institution is a legal deposit library, holding over thirteen million items of printed material and collecting approximately 60,000 items each week. The library's collections include rare books, manuscripts, maps, music, official publications, business information, science, technology, modem, and foreign collections. Among the library's treasures are the last letter of Mary Queen of Scots, written six hours prior to her death; the Order for the Massacre of Glencoe 1692; Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns collections; Thomas Carlyle manuscripts; Robert Lewis Stevenson's papers; a Guttenberg Bible (1455); the Murthly Hours (late thirteenth century); the earliest surviving detailed maps of Scotland; and collections of modern Scottish writers. The roots of the library lie in the nearby Library of the Faculty of Advocates, established in Edinburgh in 1689. "The literary and historical interest of the members of the Faculty of Advocates led them to found and to develop in the centre of Old Edinburgh a library that went far beyond their professional legal concerns and into the realm of their personal scholarly avocations. The need to house this growing collection which reflected their cultural interests meant that they had indeed to call themselves architects, and to debate and decide upon a series of building problems over two and a half centuries" (Brown 1.) It was in 1689 that Sir George Mackenzie of Rosenhaugh, King's Advocate and Dean of Faculty, formally opened "Advocatorum Bibliotheca." The library endured many changes and in 1824 was nearly destroyed by fire but, being close to the Law Courts, maintained its importance for its legal collections, which eventually were split away to service the Scottish Bar. However, the Advocates' Library and the National Library of Scotland remain locked together, stretching from Parliament Hall through to George Iv Bridge Street. The expansion of the buildings was in direct response to the inexorable growth of the collections and, as has been said of the British Museum, "The institution made the building, as the turtle makes its shell" (Brown 4). Famous Keepers of the library in the eighteenth century included Thomas Ruddiman and David Hume. Advocates, such as James Boswell and Sir Walter Scott who served as curators, helped to administer collections that Scott described as "more than princely." The John Murray Archive has the strongest of Scottish antecedents, and the National Library of Scotland has among its finest treasures the greatest collection of Sir Walter Scott papers in the world. In recent times the library, under the Directorship of Martyn Wade, the National Librarian and Chief Executive, has been transformed from what was "a library of last resort to an institution open to and indeed encouraging readers of all ages and social and educational backgrounds. The library organises travelling exhibitions and outreach programmes for all areas of Scotland. With an expanding programme of digitization of its collections it will be open to all the world." (2) Martyn Wade and his Trustees have developed a new strategy, "Breaking Through the Walls," and they plan to continue developing the library's role in the twenty first century, maximizing its impact with exhibitions, displays, events, and educational activities to promote public access and understanding. …


Today's business, political and economic environment is very much dynamic, and customers are adapting their software requirements to adjust with these new environment. In particular software needs to cater to the change in business environment due to the current economic down trend situation. Agile methodology satisfies the customer through early and continuous delivery of software. This research paper helps in understanding various agile methods; comparison among agile methods: XP, Scrum, FDD, DSDM, ASD and to find out relationship among them to help future developers to get new ideas, methods to develop software and also help to choose the right methodology. This study in general aims to contribute to the agile body of knowledge.


RED blood cells which have suffered exposure to certain bacterial toxins are known to haemolyse if suddenly cooled (Gleimy and Stevens, 1935). This effect, often called 'hot-cold lysis', has been investigated with the toxins of bacteria of the order Clostvidia by van Heyningen (1941) and by Macfarlane (1950). It appears that the action of these toxins is due to their ability to hydrolyse lecithin enzymically. Red blood cells can be rendered sensitive to lysis by cooling if they are suspended in hypertonic salt solutions (Lovelock, 1953a). This treatment also removes lecithin specifically from the cell. An effect similar to the 'hot-cold lysis' of red cells is the irreversible immobilization of mammalian Spermatozoa which takes place on sudden cooling (Anderson, 1945). The resemblance between these phenomena is strengthened by the observation that spermatozoa can be protected against the adverse effects of sudden chilling by including egg yolk (Phillips and Lardy, 1940) or lecithin in their suspending medium (Tosic and Walton, 1947). Many other types of living cell suffer damage on sudden cooling even though slow cooling or prolonged exposure to low temperatures is not harmful to them (Smith, 1954). Changes in the physical environment producing this type of damage in sensitive cells are conveniently described by the general term 'thermal shock'. With both the haemolysis of red cells and the immobilization of spermatozoa by thermal shock it is usually suggested that the site of damage is the cell membrane. Macfarlane (1950) drew attention to the similarity of the relationship governing temperature and area of lipid monolayers with that of the observed extent of haemolysis on cooling to various low temperatures. With spermatozoa also the permeability changes associated with thermal shock suggest damage to the cell membrane. More definite statements concerning the nature of the adverse effects of thermal shock were given in a preliminary communication (Lovelock, 1954). Here it was stated that the haemolysis of red cells following thermal shock resulted from physical changes in the cell, and that sensitivity to thermal shock was associated with a reduction in the proportion of phospholipid to the other lipid components of the cell membrane. The direct cause of haemolysis was tentatively ascribed to the mechanical failure of the lipids of the cell membrane, made brittle at low temperatures, under the stress of differential thermal contraction. This paper describes the experiments upon which these suggestions are based. It includes descriptions of the course of haemolysis after thermal shock, of the effect of such physical factors as temperature, rate of change of temperature, and temperature gradient upon haemolysis by thermal shock and of the effect of changes in the composition of the cell membrane and its environment upon scnsitivity to thermal shock. Most of the experiments were made with human red blood cells sensitized to thermal shock by suspension in hypertonic sodium chloride solutions; others were made with red cells sensitized by expocure to the a toxin of Cl.welchii. Experiments with normal bull spermatozoa are included for comparative purposes.


Direction of arrival estimation has a wide range of applications, both military and commercial, and the search for low complexity methods with high accuracy is an important research area. Many of the well-known methods rely on time averaging of received data to acquire the covariance matrix, essential in the estimation method. Some methods depend on single snapshot in time (single symbol) to generate this matrix. In this paper we present a low complexity single snapshot method to obtain the covariance matrix by averaging the data over space instead of time. The simulation results show that the proposed method is moderate in both complexity and accuracy.


Stress and anxiety are among the most significant reasons for staff sickness absence in the NHS. The provision of psychological support for healthcare staff may have the potential to improve staff job satisfaction and reduce staff stress and burnout. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are one type of psychological approach that has gained particular research interest in recent years. MBIs may have the potential to reduce stress and improve staff wellbeing.

A fully powered randomised control, followed on from a pilot study, aimed to look at the effects of the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based self-help intervention for healthcare staff and the factors that may mediate any effects found. A total of 133 participants were recruited for the study.

The results showed that participants in the intervention arm of the study reported a decrease in stress, anxiety and depression and an increase in wellbeing compared to controls. Further to this it was found that mindfulness is a mediator for self-compassion which increased wellbeing.


Absorption aerosol optical depth induced by black carbon (AAODBC) was retrieved using the depolarization ratio and single scattering albedo provided by the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) inversion products over East Asia. Our analysis considered AERONET data from six sites in East Asia that are mostly affected by anthropogenic pollution, black carbon (BC) emissions, and natural mineral dust, during the period 2001–2018. We identified a rapid reduction in total aerosol optical depth (AODT) of −0.0106 yr−1 over Beijing, whereas no considerable trend was observed at the Korean and Japanese sites. The long-term data for AAODBC showed decreasing trends at all sites. We conclude that successful emission control policies were the major underlying driver of AODT and AAODBC reductions over East Asia, particularly in China, during the study period. Values of the AAODBC/AODT ratio revealed that, although these policies were successful, the Chinese government needs to undertake stricter measures toward reducing BC emissions. We found that AAODBC follows seasonal trends, peaking in the colder months. This suggests that in East Asia, particularly in China, domestic coal burning is still of concern.


Future wireless local area networks (WLANs) promise bit rates higher than 100 Mbps. Previous research by Xiao et al reported that the current IEEE 802.11 medium access control (MAC) protocol does not scale well to high bit rate channels. In this letter, we propose an enhancement that uses contention-tone transmitted on a separate narrow band signaling channel. The proposed contention tone mechanism avoids more than 96% of transmission collisions, hence achieving near to the theoretical maximum throughput of a WLAN MAC protocol.


Objective:To detect the morphologic change and expression of PLA2 and COX-2in diabetes-induced embryopathy in rats.Method:Two groups of Sprague-Dawley rats were used.First group had 8 normal control rats with normal diet.Second group had 8 rats treated with streptozotocin(STZ)to induce diabetic with congenital neural tube defects in offspring;all yolk sac cells were harvested at day 12 of gestation from Two group.Embryo morphology HE staining and immunohistochemical experiments were performed to observe the PLA2 and COX-2 expression.Results:(1)HE staining and Immunofluorescence showed obvious morphological deformity differences in embryonic development of neural tube in the normal and diabetes rats.(2)Immunofluorescence showed embryonic yolk sac cell prostaglandin enzyme PLA2 and prostaglandin synthase COX-2 expression were decreased in experimental diabetic group.Conclusion:The expression of PLA2 and COX-2 genes was important in the development of neural tube in the SD rats.It could provide a novel method in the clinical therapy of neural tube defect.


This article focuses on the seismic microzonation of Pisco City and surrounding areas in Ica, Peru. Geological, geotechnical and geophysical data have been collected from comprehensive geotechnical and geophysical field investigations and laboratory tests. This information was evaluated to produce soil type zones along with isoperiod zones maps. In addition, seismic hazard assessment and seismic response analyses for the area were conducted for structural design and comparison with Peruvian Code purposes. Four zones with different level of hazard were proposed to develop a seismic microzonation map for Pisco City.


Nextenso proxy applications enable operators to control the flow of data over their infrastructures thereby adding value to their assets and better exploiting their competitive advantages.


The occurrence of dependence from third world countries towards first world countries judged as a form of weakness of the old development theories that manifest also on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) because of this idea argue that the development of a country should see structured development of more advanced countries without seeing the primary needs of the society and just look at the side of the material only. In this study, researchers use explanative research methods, as well as data collection in the library. Researchers used the concept of GNH, Foucaultdian development theory and deliberative theories that see this weakness and strive to do revisions, explained that construction must be basically refers to public participation, provision of arena to transmit the opinions, and reflections. With these three things, is expected to deliberate the construction without the need for reliance on developed countries. Gross National Happiness (GNH) which is based on 4 pillars, nine domains and 33 charge indicators will be judged capable of being an alternative to the theory of the construction of the old one. The concept of GNH is considered capable of being an alternative to the theory of development before because GNH has provided a space for the community to participate in equality, so as to determine the policy and direction of development in Bhutan and even values that contained has been embraced into the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).


The golf club head includes a body member having a face plate, and is disposed behind the face plate and at least two body components. Each of the plurality of openings are formed in one of the face plate and the body components. Extending at least one fastener passes through the inside of at least two openings, this fastener is rotated only a portion of one revolution, the combined face plate and the body components, it is configured to removably fix there.


Provided is a method for fabricating nano-sized active materials containing a copper phase for a negative electrode of a lithium secondary battery, which improves cycle characteristics and charge/discharge capacities of the battery. The method for fabricating nano-sized active materials containing a copper phase comprises the steps of: preparing powder containing at least one of tin, cobalt, cobalt-carbon, silicon, magnesium, silicon oxide or cobalt oxide powders, which have particles of 400 nm or less; dissolving a salt containing copper into an organic solvent or water to prepare a solution and adding the solution to the powder, followed by mixing and drying; and performing heat treatment of the mixture under a reducing atmosphere to prepare nano powder containing a copper phase.


The super-family Eusiroidea is trad itiona lly divided into 4 families, namely Calliopiidae, Eusiridae, Gammarellidae and Pontogeneiidae (De Broyer et al., 2007), but recent phylogenetic data suggests that the eusiroid clade forms a much broader assemblage (Englisch, 2001). Representatives are found in all oceans, inhabiting every trophic niches and a wide bathymetric range. With 216 described species in the Southern Ocean (i.e. about 24% o f its known amphipod fauna), eusiroids constitute a significant fraction o f the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic biodiversity (De Broyer et al., 2007).


Two years consecutive examination of the ethylene oxychlorination over a CuCl2-KCl/Al2O3 catalyst was operated in the scale of commercial plant. The oxychlorination performance of the catalyst was gradually deactivated. In order to clarify such deactivation factors of the catalyst, the relationship between the catalyst performance and the physicochemical property change of the catalyst was investigated. A sublimation of CuCl component and a subsequent increment of the ratio of K to Cu components were clearly observed at the inlet of the catalyst bed. Such sublimation and component change would be one of the factors of deactivation of the CuCl2-KCl/Al2O3 catalyst.


Advances in mathematical and statistical techniques, the availability of efficient computers as well as ideas and attempts to utilize certain organiza tional structures in the compilation of expertise are basic elements for an intensified discussion of the problems of forecasting specific future developments and events. As J. Wild has shown, those conditional forecasts which are derived from models by certain statistical techniques are based as much on empirical knowledge as on ad-hoc


Ultrasonic imaging for a multi-layer medium is a common challenge in seismology, medical diagnosis, and non-destructive testing. One application for multi-layer imaging is ultrasonic immersion test where the material under test and transducer array are immersed in water. The main imaging challenge in immersion test (or in any multi-layer medium) is that since the sound wave propagates with different speeds in different layers, the homogeneity assumption is not valid. Thereby calculating the sound travel time for the backscattered received signal is complicated. In this dissertation, we propose a new approach to model the array received signals in order to image the material under test. In the first approach, we propose a distributed reflector modeling approach to characterize the interface between water and the solid as well as any crack inside the solid test sample. This approach relies on incoherently distributed reflector modeling. A distributed reflector can be modeled as infinitely many point sources located close to each other. We use distributed reflector modeling in order to estimate the shape of the reflectors. To do so, we present our data model in a two-dimensional coordinate system, and then develop a covariance fitting based approach to parametric estimation of the shape of the interface between the two media and that of a crack inside the test material. Numerical computer simulations show the accuracy of the proposed approach. However the proposed approach is a parametric localization method which needs the repetition of the ultrasonic test. In the second approach we present a data model to use for image reconstruction of a multi-layer medium without need to repeat the ultrasonic experiment. In this ix


Humanneuroblastoma cells often carryamplified DNA encompassing thegeneN-myc. Amplified N-mychas beenfound localized in"double minutes" indirect tumorcell preparations. Incontrast, later passagescarried amplified N-mycalmost exclusively within a single homogeneously staining chromosomal region located ata chromosomal site different fromthenormal location ofN-myc. Weusedpulsed field gelelectrophoresis todefine thestructural arrangement oftheamplified DNA.Long-range mapping was facilitated bythepresenceof several sites for rarecutting restriction endonucleases inthe5'region ofN-myc. Amplified DNAsofdifferent neuroblastoma celllines were heterogeneous insize andhadundergone recombination atvarious distances fromN-myc. N-mycoccupied acentral position within theamplified DNA,andinno casewas thecoding region affected byrecombination. Amongneuroblastoma cells,varying proportions ofamplified DNA (insome instances close to100%)consisted ofmultiple tandem arraysofDNA segments ranging insize from100to700 kilobase pairs. Tumorcells withlowdegrees ofamplification revealed regions ofamplified DNA inexcessof 1,500 kilobase pairs without apparent rearrangement. Ourobservations, inconcert withthecytogenetic findings, suggest a modelofgeneamplification whichinvolves unscheduled DNA replication, recombination, andformation ofextrachromosomal DNA followed byintegration into a chromosome andsubsequent insitu multiplication. Thecentral position whichN-mycoccupies within theamplified sequencesandthelackof recombination within thecoding region ofN-mycindicate thatN-mycrather thanother genetic information provides theselective advantage forretention oftheamplified DNA. DNA amplification represents amolecular mechanism by whichthecopynumberofgenes isselectively increased (for reviews, seereferences 23and34). Originally discovered in thecontext ofdrugresistance, amplification hasturned out tobeafrequent genetic change ofhumanandanimal tumor cells notexposed previously tocytotoxic drugs(for areview, seereference 1).Thefirst indications ofthepresence ofamplified DNA intumorcells wereincytogenetic studies that revealed thechromosomal abnormalities "double minutes"(DMs)and"homogeneously staining chromosomal regions" (HSRs), whicharediagnostic foramplified DNA. Overthepastyears, ithasemerged that, inmanycases, amplified DNA intumorcells contains multiple copies of cellular oncogenes (for reviews, seereferences 1and24). While mosttypes oftumors appear tocarry amplification of cellular oncogenes onlysporadically, somehumantumor types arecharacterized byfrequent amplification ofaparticular gene. Instances include thegeneN-mycinneuroblastoma(16) andERBB2/HERinmammary(31) cancers. TheDNA amplified intumorcells spansaregion far beyond theconfines ofaparticular cellular oncogene. Most information about thestructure andcomplexity ofamplified DNA intumorcells isfromstudies ofamplified N-mycin neuroblastoma cells. Thecomplexity oftheamplified DNA inneuroblastoma cells hasbeenestimated torangeupto 3,000 kilobase pairs (kbp) incell line IMR-32(14), although considerably lower values ofaround 200kilobases havebeen reported forseveral otherneuroblastoma celllines (15). Studies involving randomsequences isolated fromamplified DNA bycompetitive reassociation techniques haverevealed thatthecomplexities oftheamplified DNA differ among neuroblastoma cell lines established fromtumors fromdif


Enhancement of images of foggy scenes is being investigated for application to navigational aids. Approaches based on atmospheric scatter models have previously been developed. In most cases, the assumption is made of uniform aerosol suspension leading to models of constant attenuation per unit distance. The paper addresses situations where such an assumption is not valid and proposes an approach for image enhancement when visibility varies with direction. The basis for the development of the approach is provided along with an example of application.


Comparative genomic by increasing information about the genomes sequences available in the databases is a rapidly evolving science. A simple comparison of the general features of genomes such as genome size, number of genes, and chromosome number presents an entry point into comparative genomic analysis. Here we present the utility of the new tool genomecmp for finding rearrangements across the compared sequences and applications in plant comparative genomics.


We show how transformations organize and explain the designs of legacy pipe-and-filter-architectures. We start with an elementary architecture and progressively transform it to a detailed executable architecture. In this paper, we (a) present an MDE-based foundation of how domain-specific design knowledge can be organized by transformations, (b) illustrate how complex pipe-and-filter architectures created by domain experts can be recovered and explained by applying transformations, and (c) validate our approach with examples from parallel database-query processing and high-performance matrix computations.


The 17 modern Canadian arctic tundra mammals share only six broad patterns of taxonomic variation and geographic distribution. These are believed to result from differing distributions during the Wisconsin glacial stage, and the past distributions to have been in large part determined by the ecological relations of the species during the .preceding interglacial stage. Those that were tundra species were able to maintain populations in the northern refugia, both in Beringia and Pearyland if the species was widespread (e.g., varying lemming) and only in the former if confined to western North America (e.g., brown lemming). Tree-line species (e.g., caribou) gave rise to both woodland and tundra forms, the former from populations isolated south of the ice, and the latter from populations trapped in the cooling northern refugia. Other species maintained themselves only in Beringia (e.g., man), and others only south of the ice-sheets (e.g., wolverine). Two species, polar bear and arctic fox, find sea-ice no barrier to distribution, and their present ranges are of as little zoogeographical relevance as those of anadromous fish.


Abstract Abstract 2655 Sickle cell disease (SCD) is characterized by repeated episodes of vaso-occlusion leading to painful episodes, acute chest syndrome, stroke, end organ damage and death. Blood flow changes that result in decreased perfusion of tissues and organs increase the risk for vaso-occlusion by increasing the residence time of deoxygenated and deformed sickled red blood cells in the capillary bed. Patients with SCD are more likely to have transient decreases in perfusion in response to sighs (unpublished data). We thus hypothesized that SCD patients would have an enhanced vasoconstriction response to other autonomic stimuli, such as the cold face stimulation test, when compared to normal controls and SCD patients who are chronically transfused. Using an IRB approved protocol, we studied 13 normal, ethnic matched, subjects (mean age 30.2 + 14 yrs), 12 SCD subjects (mean age 22.9 + 13.1 yrs) and 7 chronically transfused SCD subjects (mean age 22.5 + 11.5 yrs). Dermal capillary perfusion (DCP) measured by laser Doppler and near infrared regional oxygen saturation (rSO2) of the hand were monitored as continuous measures of peripheral blood flow. Physiologic data including systemic vascular resistance (SVR), respiratory rate, tidal volume, heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure, as well as DCP and rSO2, were continuously monitored and recorded digitally. A cold pack was applied to the forehead for 60 seconds and the perfusion and physiological data were recorded. Baseline physiologic values were calculated as the median from 5 min to 1 min prior to the cold face stimulation and compared to median values during the cold face stimulation. In all three populations (normal controls, chronically transfused SCD, SCD) there was a rapid decrease of DCP from baseline (−38.2%, −26.6%, −22.5% respectively) and rSO2 (−8.8%, −4.8%, −3.3% respectively) during the cold face stimulation. Thus, compared to controls, the vascular response was blunted in both SCD and transfused SCD. The blood flow changes in response to the cold face stimulation in SCD improved with chronic transfusion but did not normalize. SVR increased in all populations (17%, 16%, 9% respectively) but the response was blunted in the non-transfused SCD group. Bradycardia was observed in the control and chronically transfused SCD groups (−5.9%, −3.7%) but not in the non-transfused SCD (−0.21%). Our results indicate that, as expected, there is a decrease in peripheral blood flow during cold exposure in normal controls which also occurs in SCD and chronically transfused SCD; SVR is increased consistent with peripheral vasoconstriction. Interestingly, the peripheral blood flow response to cold face stimulation is significantly blunted in both SCD and SCD with chronic transfusion, and thus transfusion does not correct the abnormality. However, chronic transfusion in SCD normalizes the bradycardiac/parasympathetic response to cold face stimulation. In overview, these findings indicate that chronic transfusion partially improves autonomic function in SCD patients, but does not correct the abnormality in peripheral microvascular reactivity. Disclosures: Coates: Novartis: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau.


The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (hereafter "the DPRK" or "North Korea") and its missile development program have generated international concerns for several years. Most analysts agree that the DPRK missile program is a threat to security and stability in Northeast Asia and other regions, and North Korea's missile exports are well documented. The Bush administration has accused Pyongyang of being "the world's number one merchant for ballistic missiles—open for business with anyone, no matter how maligned the buyer's intentions." Clearly North Korea's missile program has had an impact on international security; conversely, international variables, or changes in the international strategic environment, influence the DPRK in determining the program's scope and future development. However, the North Korean domestic political economy is also a determining factor. Missile development is technically difficult and very expensive, especially for relatively small countries like North Korea with backward or poorly performing economies. Missiles provide security benefits, at least in the short run, and arguably can provide economic benefits if we consider the potential foreign exchange earnings from exports. In the DPRK case, the missile development program has tremendous distributional consequences for North Korean society, which includes a number of "stakeholders" with different preferences for the future of the missile program. Given that Pyongyang's policymakers must consider both international and domestic politics when deciding missile development policy, predicting the future development path of the North Korean missile program is a complex task. Most analysis tends to focus on the international component of this problem, with little consideration for North Korean domestic politics and institutions. Some analysts might argue that domestic politics is irrelevant because the North Korean leadership is completely insulated from domestic pressures, or because all political and societal interests in North Korea converge on this issue. The DPRK is not a pluralistic polity; North Korean civil society is extraordinarily underdeveloped. Nevertheless, even the most authoritarian governments require a critical mass of supporters in order to remain in power and to continue programs that consume significant resources. This assumption raises key questions about the North Korean institutions and individuals that have particular


In this paper,the optimization problems with nonlinear inequality and equality constraints are discussed.With the help of strongly sub-feasible direction method and the idea of semipenalty function,a new generalized projection of strongly sub-feasible direction method for the discussed problems is proposed.An outstanding property of the proposed algorithm is that the iteration points can enter into the feasible region of the semi-penalty problem after a finite number of iterations. Under some suitable conditions,the globally and strongly convergent properties are obtained.The numerical experiments show that the proposed algorithm is promising.


Authors enumerate various malignant and benign cases which showed soft tissue uptake of . We hope it might be a help in understanding and interpreting bone scans. Among 10,361 bone scans underwent from April, 1981 to March, 1986, 344 (3.3%) showed abnormal soft tissue uptake, which included 126 malignancies, 5 benign tumors, and 153 nontumorous diseases. Neuroblastoma(23.3%) and malignant fibrous histiocytoma(22.2%) showed highest positive uptake rate among various malignancies. We also illustrated typical cases according to possible mechanisms.


A major public health problem is water pollution of pathogenic microorganism and the pathogenic microorganism presence in drinking water.Cryptosporidium and Giardia are considered as main waterborne protozoan parasites causing human diarrhea,posing a serious threat to drinking water safety.Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts have a strong resistance and volume of low infective dose.Conventional chlorine disinfectant cannot effectively inactivate Cryptosporidium and Giardia.Among physical methods to remove or inactivate Cryptosporidium and Giardia,reverse osmosis,membrane filtration and freeze-thaw methods with high cost,are not suitable for large scale water treatment.UV method can more effectively inactivate Cryptosporidium and Giardia,but limit the inactivated effect of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in deeper because of weak UV penetration.Among chemical methods,ozone oxidation has the best effect on inactivation of Cryptosporidium and Giardia.Variety of disinfectants used in combination by synergy could reach a higher inactivation rate.


These files were used to produce our results for the ERM project on NNEG valuation. Please note that the cash-flow analysis has been revamped.

These files were used to produce our results for the ERM project on NNEG valuation. Please note that the cash-flow analysis has been revamped. This research project was jointly commissioned by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries' Actuarial Research Centre (ARC) and the Association of British Insurers.


Input-output properties of chaotic Lorenz systems are studied by means of Lyapunov method and computer simulation.Several meaningful novel results are obtained in investigation of relations between norm of solutions of Lorenz systems and magnitudes and frequency of input signals.This results are importance for farther studiny the Lorenz systems.


Objective: To investigate the inhibition of the PHA-induced abnormal bone marrow T lymphocyte proliferation and activation by the CTLA-4Ig fusion protein in vitro in patients with aplastic anemia(AA).Method: Flow cytometry and immunofluorescence were used to analyze the mononuclear cells from bone marrow of the aplastic anemia patients.Result: In contrast to the controls,the expressions of the CD3,CD25,CD25 on CD4~+,CD8~+ lymphocytes were statistically decreased(P0.05) in both serious and non-serious AA.Conclusion: The CTLA-4Ig fusion protein can induce the T cell tolerance and inhibit the T cell abnormal proliferation and activation in patients with AA.


We study the following boundary value problem with a concave–convex nonlinearity: Here Ω ⊂ ℝn is a bounded domain and 1 0 such that the problem admits at least two positive solutions for 0 Λq, r. We show that where λ1(p) is the first eigenvalue of the p-Laplacian. It is worth noticing that λ1(p) is the threshold for existence/nonexistence of positive solutions to the above problem in the limit case q = p.


This paper presents an experimental study of a junction between a closed conduit and an open channel. This study was undertaken to explore hydraulic properties of outlets of subsurface drainage or sewage networks into an open air stream during flood events. Experiments were conducted in a laboratory flume, with a main rectangular channel joined at right angle to a lateral circular pipe. Both branches were supplied with independent flow rates and downstream water level was controlled by an adjustable weir. Several flow patterns were identified, combining free-surface and pressurized flows. Transitions between these flow patterns, as well as changes in water level or energy, in response to the modifications of experimental variables, were studied and could be linked to known properties of single channels, single pipes, and homogeneous junctions. Transitions between free-surface and pressurized pipe flow appeared to be strongly dependent on the whole set of experimental variables and the pipe longitudinal slope. This work contributes to a better knowledge of hydraulic and hydrologic key processes for point source discharging.


Arendt's criticism of modernity is about those processes that alter the human condition and possible elements that are shown as totalitarian. The human condition is, firstly, labor, the human metabolism with nature, secondly, work, whose products provide durability to the world, and, thirdly, action and word, which are properly human, that which brings together men. Following Arendt's


Phocid seals experience disparate terrestrial and aquatic habitats through unique sensory filters. These filters enable them to gather information as they move through each environment, with sensory streams combining to form a salient and perceptually limited construct of the far more cluttered physical world. An understanding of how seals 'see' the world is fundamental to every aspect of their behavior. Such an understanding must be pieced together from available clues about their sensory biology and cognitive capabilities. These can be derived from anatomical, behavioral, physiological, and evolutionary studies—and consideration of the unique and sometimes opposing selective pressures operating on these perfectly amphibious carnivores. In this chapter, we summarize what is known about the sensory abilities of phocid seals and link sensory performance to behavior. We examine how vision, hearing, touch and hydrodynamic perception, chemoreception, and other senses operate effectively under the conflicting demands of marine and terrestrial living and consider how information from individual single sensory systems is integrated to form a multimodal representation of the environment.


Mineral calaverite AuTe2 is a layered compound with an incommensurately modulated structure. The modulation is characterized by the formation of molecular-like Te2 dimers. We have found that the breaking of Te2 dimers that occurs in Au1-xPtxTe2 results in the emergence of superconductivity at Tc = 4.0 K.


This work aims at studying one component of the G.E. CF6-50 aircraft motor, named Seal (SARD) which it is located in the high-pressure turbine. The welding process employed for repairing this seal (which is made of inconel 718 alloy, a nickel-based alloy) was Dabber-TIG with pulsed wire. It was identified that the relevant answer parameters for the analysis were the height and the width of the fillet weld. In the identification of the welding optimal parameters, the two level fractional factorial statistical technique of experimental designs was used with 16 runs. It was identified that for the answer parameter height of the weld fillet the significant main effects are the welding speed, wire fire speed and welding current. For the answer parameter width of the fillet weld it was verified that the significant main effects were the welding current, the arc voltage and the welding speed.


Aiming at the problem of pressure indication reducing of gas density relay in the operation of 35kV 51# switchgear CT in 330kV Mingzhu substation,the paper makes relevant tracing,check and analysis,and proposes preventive measures based on the real reason of pressure abnormal through investigation.


Cyclic AMP levels doubled in Myxococcus xanthus under conditions in which cells aggregate and form fruiting bodies. In liquid medium, glycerol- or dimethyl sulfoxide-induced sporulating cultures exhibited a sharp but transient rise in cyclic AMP concentration after 45 min.


Abstract Background: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma represents 2% of all thyroid carcinomas. The most common metastatic sites are lung and neck lymph nodes. Cardiac metastasis is extremely rare. Autopsy studies of patients with thyroid cancer have documented a frequency of metastatic cardiac involvement of 0%–2%. Clinical Case: A 57- year- old woman was admitted to the emergency room with a rapidly expanding neck mass of 3 months duration. She complained of pain in the anterior neck, dysphagia, dyspnea, palpitations and hemoptoic sputum. She further reported history of weight loss. She denied medical history of cancer in the family. Prior medical history was described as non- significant. On clinical examination, vital signs were normal. General swelling around the thyroid region was noted. A hard, tender, immobile mass was palpated. A superficial lymph node of about 5 cm in diameter was palpated in level II A and IIB. The patient was admitted to the hospital for further workup. Laboratory work up revealed, hemoglobin 7.6 g/dL, hematocrit 22.5%, white blood cells 15,000/mm3, fasting plasma glucose 135 mg/dL and urea 59 mg/dL. Thyroid function tests revealed TSH 2.46 mUI/ml (normal range: 0.38-5.33 mUI/ ml), fT3 1.69 pg/ml (normal range: 2.39-6.79 pg/ml), fT4 0.57 ng/dl (normal range: 0.58-1.64 ng/dl). A fine needle aspiration cytology from the thyroid lesion described a poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma. CT scan of the neck and chest revealed a large heterogeneous mass with hypointense areas involving the thyroid gland of 9 x 8 x 7 cm that surrounded the vertebral bodies and displaced and infiltrated the neck vessels, trachea and esophagus. In the right atrium and right ventricle three well- circumscribed ovoid masses were observed, the largest one measured approximately 21 x 17 mm, suggestive of cardiac metastases. Bilateral adrenal masses were also observed the largest one measuring 69 x 51 mm. Diagnosis of anaplastic thyroid cancer stage IVC was established with a large thyroid mass, widespread metastasis and poorly differentiated metastatic carcinoma on fine needle aspiration biopsy. During her hospitalization she presented both atrial tachycardia and atrial fibrillation and was started on amiodarone. A week later, the patient′s condition deteriorated and she died of respiratory arrest without having any further treatment for the tumor. Conclusion: In patients with established thyroid malignancy who develop cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac metastasis should be considered.


Meta-analysis demonstrated an EOA/EOR of 85.4 ± 10.6% with brain LITT versus 77.0 ± 40% with craniotomy (mean difference 8%) and major complications of 5.7% and 13.8% for LITT and craniotomy, respectively. The authors concluded that in patients presenting with HGGs in or near areas of eloquence, early results demonstrate that brain LITT may be a viable surgical alternative. Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines endorsed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) do not address LITT in the management of patients with diffuse low-grade glioma (Ryken or progressive GBM. (Olson not limited to inherent bias in selection and reporting and recognized issues of retrospective studies. The that MRgLITT procedures have demonstrated effectiveness in the treatment of a variety of epilepsy etiologies and tumor pathologies. While laser neurosurgery has evolved over recent decades and clinical indications are currently being defined, long-term outcomes have yet to be fully elucidated. The findings are however limited by the lack of comparison group in the reviewed studies. of patients undergoing LITT for treatment of mesial TLE (MTLE) with at least a 12-month follow-up at a single institution. The goal of the study was to identify features of ablations and trajectories that correlate with optimal seizure control and minimize the risk of neurocognitive deficits, Standard preoperative and postoperative evaluations, including contrast-enhanced MRI and neuropsychological testing, were performed in all patients. Laser trajectory and ablation volumes were computed both by manual tracing of mesiotemporal structures and by non-rigid registration of ablation cavities to a common reference system based on 7T MRI data. Among 23 patients with at least 1-year follow-up, 15 (65%) were free of disabling seizures since the time of their surgery. Sparing of the mesial hippocampal head was significantly correlated with persistent disabling seizures (p = 0.01). A lateral trajectory through the hippocampus showed a trend for poor seizure outcome (p = 0.08). A comparison of baseline and postoperative neurocognitive testing revealed areas of both improvement and worsening, which were not associated with ablation volume or trajectory. The researchers determined that at 1 year, LITT appeared to be a safe and effective tool for the treatment of MTLE, although a longer follow-up period is necessary to confirm these observations. Better understanding of the impact of ablation volume and location could potentially fine-tune this technique to improve seizure freedom rates and associated neurologic and cognitive changes. The study is limited by lack of information on patients who did not have a 12-month follow-up, which could be a significant source of bias, as well as lack of comparison group. of ablation. No neurologic were identified. Four of 5 patients achieved freedom from disabling seizures after SLA alone class 1 outcome), with follow-up ranging 12 to 28 months. The concluded that minimally invasive MRT-guided SLA of epileptogenic CCM is a potentially safe and effective alternative to open resection. Additional studies and longer follow up are needed. The are limited by lack of comparison group and small sample size. underwent MRgLITT from December 2011 to December 2014. Surgical outcome was assessed at 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and at the most recent visit. Volume-based analysis of ablated mesial temporal structures was conducted in 17 patients with MTS and results were compared between the seizure-free and not seizure-free groups. Following LITT, proportions of patients who were free of seizures impairing consciousness (including those with auras only) are as follows: 8 of 15 patients after 6 months (53%), 4 of 11 patients after 1 year (36.4%), and 3 of 5 patients at 2-year follow up (60%). Median follow-up was 13.4 months post- LITT. Seizure outcome after LITT suggests an "all or none" response. Four patients had anterior temporal lobectomy after LITT; 3 are seizure-free. There were no differences in total ablated volume of the amygdalohippocampus complex or individual volumes of hippocampus, amygdala, entorhinal cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, and fusiform gyrus between seizure-free and non-seizure-free patients. Contextual verbal memory performance was preserved after LITT, although decline in noncontextual memory task scores were noted. The authors concluded that stereotactic MRgLITT is a safe alternative to anterior temporal lobectomy in patients with medically intractable MTLE. Individualized assessment is warranted to determine whether the reduced odds of seizure freedom are worth the reduction in risk, discomfort, and recovery time. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm preliminary findings, and to define optimal ablation volume and ideal structures for ablation. Limitations to this review include a prospective review in a single center, lack of comparison group, as well as small sample size. descriptive mixed Further multicenter, prospective studies required optimal candidates and larger cohorts needed more define outcome and score of 7 or less in 25% or less of biopsies, and MRI with 1 or 2 lesions concordant with biopsy-detected cancer. At 3 months, all patients underwent MRI with biopsy of ablation zone(s). At 12 months, all underwent MRI and systematic biopsy. I-PSS (International Prostate Symptom Score) and SHIM (Sexual Health Inventory for Men) scores were collected pre-treatment, and at 1, 3 and 12 months. The primary end point was no cancer on the 3-month ablation zone biopsy. Secondary end points were safety, 12-month biopsy, and urinary and sexual function. At 3 months 26 patients (96%) had no evidence of cancer on MRI-guided biopsy of the ablation zone. No significant I-PSS changes were observed. SHIM was lower at 1 month (p = 0.03), marginally lower at 3 months (p = 0.05) and without a significant difference at 12 months (p = 0.38). At 12-month biopsy, cancer was identified in 10 patients (37%) (inside the ablation zone(s) in 3 cases (11%) and outside the ablation zone(s) in 8 (30%)). Cancer was identified both in and outside the ablation zone in 1 participant. The authors concluded that in select individuals with localized prostate cancer and visible MRI lesions, focal laser ablation has an acceptable morbidity profile and is associated with encouraging short-term oncologic outcomes. Significantly longer followup is mandatory to fully assess this treatment. Furthermore, the study comparison


The last decade has given rise to a large variety of search algorithms for distributed constraints optimization problems (DCOPs). All of these distributed algorithms operate among agents in an asynchronous environment. The present paper presents a categorization of DCOP algorithms into several classes of synchronization. Algorithms of different classes of synchronization are shown to behave differently with respect to idle time of agents and to irrelevant computation. To enable the investigation of the relation between the classes of synchronization of algorithms and their run-time performance, one can control the asynchronous behavior of the multi-agent system by changing the amount of message delays. A preliminary probabilistic model for computing the expected performance of DCOP algorithms of different synchronization classes is presented. These expectations are realized in experiments on delayed message asynchronous systems. It turns out that the performance of algorithms of a weaker synchronization class deteriorates much more when the system becomes asynchronous than the performance of more synchronized DCOP algorithms. The notable exception is that concurrent algorithms, that run multiple search processes, are much more robust to message delays than all other DCOP algorithms. ∗Supported by the Lynn and William Frankel center for Computer Sciences and the Paul Ivanier Center for Robotics and Production Management.


The invention relates to qualitative and quantitative analysis on molecular cells in human plasma, in particular to a detection marker used for evaluating a tumor immunology cell therapy as well as a detection method and application thereof. The detection marker used for evaluating the tumor immunology cell therapy is one or combination of more than one of cytokines. The cytokines have the advantages of high sensitivity, high detection speed, convenience in a material drawing process and simple sample storage condition (plasma is stored at the temperature of -20 DEG C), the detection marker and a combination thereof are used for detecting one group of multiple related cytokines, low specificity and low sensitivity, which are caused by individual difference, of a single marker are overcome, and accuracy is obviously improved. The detection marker and a detection method thereof can be used for judging effect of the tumor immunology cell therapy in vitro, experiments show that the detection marker provided by the invention and a combination thereof have high sensitivity, and the provided method for detecting the marker has the characteristics of high throughput and high sensitivity.


It has been argued that career success is the most frequently researched outcome in organizational
behavior. However, as most researches relate it to organizational or employee level, career success of the self-employed is often neglected in the literature.The purpose of this paper was to gain a deeper understanding of career success of entrepreneurs and how it was influenced by their career commitment and resilience.It therefore addressed the research question, "does entrepreneurial career commitment (ECC) predicts entrepreneurial career success (ECS) through entrepreneurial career resilience (ECR)?",
The study is cross-sectional and data were collected from small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
owners/managers in Nigeria.The study distributed 576 questionnaires to the respondents but 390 (68%) were retrieved and therefore used for analysis.The respondents were selected using two-stage cluster sampling method.To assess the measurement as well as the structural model, the data were analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) statistical software (Smart-PLS version 3.2.4). The findings suggest that ECC influenced the two facets of ECS, i.e. career satisfaction (CS) and perceived career achievement (PCA), but it did not influence the perceived financial attainment
(PFA).In addition, there was also substantive support for the effect of ECC on ECR as well as ECC on ECS.More so, ECR has significantly intervened in the relationships. The findings also emphasized the importance of the ECC, ECS and ECR for entrepreneurs.The paper provided a novel understanding on topics (career success, career commitment and career resilience) that are of increasingly critical importance to the present-day entrepreneurs.


We present a market microstructure model to examine specialist's strategic participation decisions in a security market where there are noise traders, limit order traders, an insider and a specialist. We argue that the specialist's participation rate depends on the depth of the limit book and its uncertainty. In particular, the specialist has incentives to trade against the market trend when the limit-book depth is low and to trade with the market trend when the depth is high. Moreover, the specialist's participation rate is positively related to the limit-book depth uncertainty and the asset price volatility, but is negative related to the average trading volume. We also discuss the specialist's participation strategies under the NYSE regulation that prohibits the specialist from trading with the market trend.


This article presents a performance-guaranteed ad- aptive asymptotic tracking control scheme for a class of nonlinear systems with unknown sign-switching control direction. By introducing the periodic sliding mode technique and equivalent control- based adaptive mechanism, the proposed control approach ensures that the sliding mode surface is reached in finite time, and thus, the asymptotic stability is achieved rather than only signals boundedness. Simultaneously, the tracking performance is strictly guaranteed inside the preassigned performance bounds even when the unknown control coefficients switch to the opposite direction. The effectiveness of the proposed control law is verified by numerical simulations.


A superconducting state was observed for the first time in tribolayers of germanium produced by friction of germanium with lead at 42 K. The maximum value of T/sub c/ obtained in the experiment was 19 K, which is much higher than T/sub c/ of bulk lead itself or of lead films sputtered on germanium.


Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) changes the force applied on the lower extremities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between various severity of KOA and the forces applied to the lower limb during walking. Sixty eight limbs were divided into three groups of mild, moderate and severe KOA and a healthy normal group according to the Kellgren–Lawrence scale. The subjects walked with a self-selected speed to collect five successful trials. The components of ground reaction forces i.e., medio-lateral (ML), first peak of antero-posterior (AP1), second peak of antero-posterior (AP2), first peak of vertical (VP1), second peak of vertical (VP2) and vertical valley (V.V) were collected. AP1 and AP2 had decreasing pattern with increasing disease severity. Although ML Peak and VV have shown rising trend from normal people to severe KOA, ML difference was not significant in various groups (p>0.05). In addition, the VP1 did not differ significantly among the subjects. In contrast, the VP2 decrease...


This study aims to determine and analyze the effects ofIndonesian Rupiah exchange rate, world oil prices, and world gold priceson IDX Composite in 2016. This research utilizedGeneralized AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) method on 234 daily observations throughout the whole year.This study results demonstrated that the Indonesian Rupiah exchange rate has a significant and negative impact, while the world gold and oil prices have a significant and positive impact on the IDX Composite in 2016. In addition to these results, the discovery and usage of GARCH method as the optimum econometric model found the variance of residuals of IDX Composite in 2016, which is also affected by the previous day residuals, but it is not affected by the variance of previous days residuals.


Abstract The problem considered is that of using all of the observations in a sample of multivariate observations when for some of the observations values for certain of the characters are missing. This paper extends results obtained for estimation of the parameters in special cases to the general p-variate case and presents the solution to the problem of what use may be made of data from incomplete multivariate samples when the interest lies in the prediction of one character from a knowledge of the rest. It is concluded that for purposes of prediction no use can be made of incomplete samples. Under certain circumstances all the observations in an incomplete sample can be used to construct improved estimators. Application of the results to multivariate normal distributions truncated on one or more characters is mentioned.


Exploitation of human movement analysis techniques in the clinical setting still suffers of the weakne ss of the currently utilised protocols for data collection and reduction. Reliable data comparisons and precise functional assessment requi re anatomical based definitions of the reference frame s and axes, and therefore careful identification and tracking of anatomical landmarks. Marker-set and other measurement procedu res must be minimised to limit duration of the experiment and disturb to the patient. International recommendations for calculation and reporting of the kinematics and kinetics variables need to be followed for an effective data exchange. Two new mul tisegmental protocols, one for the lower limb another for the foot, are proposed with the aim of meeting these criteria . Keywords-component; gait analysis; clinical setting; data reduction; marker-set; lower limb; rear-foot; mid-foot; metatarsus


Prior studies have shown that newly public firms exhibit a high degree of uncertainty and asymmetric information, with few reliable sources of information. These findings suggest that investors could benefit if some independent party is able to assess the quality of a newly public firm. Since other studies have found that banks can reduce information asymmetry about firms that borrow, we examine whether banks provide information about the quality of newly public firms. We find that bank lending is consistently associated with positive long-term outcomes-newly public firms that borrow experience significantly smaller decreases in operating performance and better long-term stock performance than non-borrowers.


In the face of the new situation,new tasks and new requirements of anti- corruption construction of the Party and the nation,it is significant how to play a functional role,resource advantage of colleges and universities,especially the inheritance and innovation of integrity education culture at all times and in all over the world,to make it influence,infect and cultivate more socialist constructors with Chinese characters and reliable successors,and strive to explore the construct integrity education culture base mode in colleges and universities.


A semiconductor test handler and a tray transferring method are provided to hold simultaneously two trays and to reduce a tray supplying time by using a tray gripper. A semiconductor test handler includes a base(152), a plurality of holders(154,158) extended and contracted to both sides of the base in order to hold selectively a tray, and a gripper having a driving unit for driving the holders. The holders are composed of a first holder and a second holder. The driving unit includes an actuator for driving the first holder and the second holder. The first holder is positioned at the outside of the base in comparison with the second holder. An end part extended from the first holder is positioned at a lower part of the base in comparison with an end part extended from the second holder. The first and second holders are used for holding by stacking trays. Further, a sensor unit is installed in order to sense existence the trays along a movement of the base at one side of the base.


: Our work concerns the study of the ancient Jewish Quarter Josefov, the urban center of Staré M ĕ sto, in Prague. This Quarter represents a well-defined urban fact, recognizable within the fabric of the historic city. Over the centuries, it has influenced the shape of the city and has become one of the most important and characteristic elements through its structure and spaces, its geography and its architecture (the Synagogue or the Jewish cemetery). However, this quarter also represents a fundamental social fact for the city of Prague as it is born from and organized around a very strong and historically rooted cultural identity. This cultural identity is characterized by uses, social customs, and traditions of a Jewish community that has been part of the history of the city over the centuries, helping to create myths and legends around it. The aim of this research is to preserve and recognize that cultural identity, using a strategic vision that starts from the reconstruction of pieces of this cultural testimony via the recovery of small parts of the urban fabric in the center or on the edge of this urban island.


Kampo medicine was introduced into the core curriculum model of medical education in Japan in 2007, and has been taught at all 80 medical universities across the country. However, as there are differences in terms of content and between universities, Kampo medicine education needs to be standardized. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effects of combining multiple strategies, including lectures, problem‐based learning (PBL), and simulator training for the development of a standardized educational curriculum for Kampo medicine.


Systems for Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) are demanding in their use of distributed systems infrastructure. CSCW systems typically require facilities such as group communication (multicast), object replication, and streamed, multi-party audio or video. The interaction mechanisms supported by mainstream tools like CORBA[19] and DCE[24] are low-level and limited to message passing or remote procedure call (RPC). While this is sufficient for information processing applications with simple client-server or three-tier communication requirements, it falls short of supporting the flexibility and complexity required by CSCW systems[5, 22, 14]. There are a number of research-oriented toolkits, for example GroupKit[23] and COAST[25], that support some of the required facilities for CSCW applications. These do not easily support extension or composition of facilities, however, because of their "toolkit" nature. In his recent PhD thesis[8], Paul Dourish suggests that correct approach to providing the necessary flexibility is through open implementation[15]. This technique requires an infrastructure to provide a representation of the underlying implementation that can be modified to suit application requirements, typically through reflection[16] in a programming language. With the suggestions of Dourish in mind, we are developing an executable language for describing the distribution aspects of CSCW systems. The language, Finesse, is based on the principles of the A1 p architecture model for distributed systems[4]. Its underlying semantics are described informally in [20], and a draft syntax has been defined[2]. This paper gives an overview of Finesse, its motivation, and its goals. A set of simple examples is provided in appendix A to give the flavour of the language and demonstrate the power of a language-based approach.


The existing literature suggests a number of alternative methods to test for the presence of contagion during financial market crises. This paper reviews those methods and shows how they are related in a unified framework. A number of extensions are also suggested that allow for multivariate testing, endogeneity issues, and structural breaks.


tract of pine wood which issoluble in This invention relates generally to hydraulic cement and, in particular, to a cement suitable for making porous orightweight concrete, by reason of its remarkable air-entraining property. This is in part a continuation of my applica tion Serial No. 668,321, filed May 8, 1946, now abandoned, for "Cement Composition and Meth Od. Of Making.' Light-weight concrete, i. e., concrete having a density less than about 140, p. C. f. (pounds per cubic foot), the density of ordinary concrete, is desirable for many purposes, such as Wallpanels. EEEE Such concrete has been made heretofore principally by utilizing light weight aggregates, such as Haydite (expanded clay) or Vermiculite (exfoliated mica), contain ing entrapped air which gives them a low den sity. It has also been proposed to incorporate in concrete mixes air-entraining or foam-pro ducing agents not only for the production of 20 light-weight concrete but also to increase the plasticity and workability of the wet mix and the resistance of the concrete to Weathering. Ce ment mortars have been thus produced contain ing entrained air up to about 20% by volume. Concrete made from So-called air-entraining ce ments known heretofore, however, usually con tains only from 2 to 5%. air by volume. Such small amounts of entrained air do not reduce the weight of concrete to the extent necessary for most uses of light-weight material, where 50 to 60% air is sometimes wanted. Attempts to entrain such large quantities of air by adding air-entraining agents to cement have not here tofore been successful because the foam pro duced lacks stability and proper size distribution. TIt is the object of my invention to provide a cement adapted for the manufacture of light weight concrete, having an air-entraining age incorporated therein which is highly effective in producing foam or bubbles having a high stabil ity, and is cheap, re y obtainable, and usable without material modification of conventional practice in mixing, pouring and curing. I have discovered that the addition to


Conclusions. The absence of recurrences after final nasal reconstruction demonstrates the reliability of our three-stage strategy and the necessity to delay nasal reconstruction, focusing attention on oncological safety for nasal non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) with mucosal invasion. Objectives. To validate a therapeutic strategy aimed at oncological safety and minimization of possible recurrences after full-thickness excision of nasal NMSC with mucosal invasion. The strategy was divided into three stages: surgical excision with clinically safe perilesional skin margins and extemporary frozen section histological control; 8–15 months follow-up leaving the nasal defect unreconstructed with a 'wait and see' strategy; new extemporary histological control of defect margins and, if negative, definitive reconstruction. Patients and methods. Twenty patients affected by nasal NMSC with mucosal invasion were treated and followed up. Results. Basal cell carcinoma was the most common lesion (75%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (25%). Ultrasonography excluded lymphatic involvement for SCC. Before final reconstruction, extemporary histological examination revealed the presence of tumour cells in three patients. After tumour extirpation, these patients were resubmitted to a new follow-up period before reconstruction. No recurrences were observed after definitive nasal reconstruction in all patients during the 5-year follow-up.


This paper presents lumped elements equivalent circuits for several interconnects between microstrip and CPW transmission lines printed on GaAs and silicon substrates using flip chip technology. The effect of the bump height on the transition insertion and return losses and on the element values of the equivalent circuit is presented. It is shown that the performance of flip chip transitions is limited by the parasitic capacitance between the bump interconnects and the bump pads. By proper choice of the bump height, the area of the bump interconnects and the bump pads, it is possible to obtain bandwidth of the order of 150GHz.


Confronting the Network Age, winery industry conformity develops the new industry pattern. This paper analyzes the traditional business marketing and provides some good suggestions for the winery industry. The enterprise will achieve successfully the cyber marketing and build effectively marketing channel. [


In 1934, Albert Einstein published a book titled The World As I See It in which the great physicist glanced unsparingly at the political issues of his times. Notably, he likened nationalism to a si...


We present a clustering analysis of X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) by compiling X-ray samples from the literature and re-estimating the dark-matter (DM) halo masses of AGN in a uniform manner. We find that moderate-luminosity AGN (L2–10 keV ≃ 1042–1044 erg s−1) in the z ≃ 0–1.3 Universe are typically found in DM haloes with masses of ∼1013 M⊙. We then compare our findings to the theoretical predictions of the coupled galaxy and black hole formation model GALFORM. We find good agreement when our calculation includes the hot-halo mode of accretion on to the central black hole. This type of accretion, which is additional to the common cold accretion during disc instabilities and galaxy mergers, is tightly coupled to the AGN feedback in the model. The hot-halo mode becomes prominent in DM haloes with masses greater than ∼1012.5 M⊙, where AGN feedback typically operates, giving rise to a distinct class of moderate-luminosity AGN that inhabit rich clusters and superclusters. Cold gas fuelling of the black hole cannot produce the observationally inferred DM halo masses of X-ray AGN. Switching off AGN feedback in the model results in a large population of luminous quasars (L2–10 keV > 1044 erg s−1) in DM haloes with masses up to ∼1014 M⊙, which is inconsistent with the observed clustering of quasars. The abundance of hot-halo AGN decreases significantly in the z ≃ 3–4 universe. At such high redshifts, the cold accretion mode is solely responsible for shaping the environment of moderate-luminosity AGN. Our analysis supports two accretion modes (cold and hot) for the fuelling of supermassive black holes and strongly underlines the importance of AGN feedback in cosmological models both of galaxy formation and black hole growth.


An improved beach towel that can be converted to a swimsuit cover-up by simply wrapping the towel long ways around a wearers body and buttoning the attached two buttons into the buttonholes that are along one length of the towel. In some embodiments, the inventive beach towel has two buttons attached to a face of the beach towel toward a corner of one end of the towel, and also has a series of evenly spaced buttonholes along the same length of the towel at the other end. The spacing between the two buttons matches a spacing of the buttonholes. This allows the wearer of the beach towel/cover up to wrap the towel around their hips, waist, or chest, and secure the buttons into appropriate buttonholes so that the cover up fits the wearer. The cover up can be easily adjusted for different sizes simply by choosing other buttonholes in the series of button holes.


In addition to providing an overview of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code design rules applicable to Class 2 and 3 valves, where Class is defined in Section III of the ASME Code, Sub-Article NCA-2130, this paper offers some insight as to why the rules are as they are. The motivation comes from a request by the ASME Codes and Standards Committee, Components Subgroup, for the Valve Working Group to prepare this overview. The request came after discussing a question from a participant regarding how the "(Primary Membrane or Local) plus Bending" stress category should be addressed for a valve.
 The paper goes beyond a basic overview of Code rules as it includes a discussion of the underlying valve standard ASME B16.34, looks at the valve rules in relation with the rest of the Code, and contributes some historical perspective. From a perusal of the Code both in general and during preparation of this paper, it is concluded that the valve Code rules could benefit from a few clarifications; thus, changes are proposed, and the Working Group is encouraged to consider them. In answer to the underlying question regarding the primary local stress category, it is shown that the need for a local stress evaluation would be rare for a valve.


AIM: To study the effect of TNF-α on the expression of human glucocorticoid receptor (GR) so as to explore the relationship of inflammatory cytokines and glucocorticoid resistance. METHODS: Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated and the mRNA expression of GRα and GRβ in PBMC after the culture with TNF-α or without TNF-α was detected by RT-PCR. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between the expression of GRα mRNA in PBMCs with a 24-hour TNF-α stimulation and that without TNF-α stimulation (P0.05) and GRα/GAPDH mRNA was 1.16±0.73 and 1.20±0.51 respectively. But the expression of hGRβ (mRNA) in PBMCs with a 24-hour TNF-α stimulation was significantly higher than that without TNF-α stimulation (P(0.05)). GRβ/GAPDH mRNA was 1.62±0.59 and 0.81±(0.66) respectively. CONCLUSION: TNF-α can increase the expression of glucocorticiod receptor β, which may be one of the mechanisms of glucocorticoid resistance induced by inflammatory cytokine.


BACKGROUND: Endometrial cancer is one type of cancer that is often experienced by women, especially in the post-menopausal female population. The incidence of endometrial cancer in developing countries, including Indonesia, is increasing due to the lack of access to early detection and diagnosis of endometrial cancer that requires curettage or biopsy that must be done in a hospital.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to observe various risk factors and characteristics of endometrial cancer patients such as initial complaints, age, parity, family history, body mass index, history of hypertension, history of diabetes mellitus, histological type, degree of differentiation, cancer stage, and treatment.

METHODS: This retrospective and descriptive study was carried out at the obstetrics and gynecology polyclinic and the medical record installation at Sanglah Hospital Denpasar Bali from November 2020 until May 2021. A total of 215 patients with endometrial cancer were enrolled in this study.

RESULTS: A total of 215 endometrial cancer were obtained during this study period. The most common clinical characteristics were vaginal bleeding (91.4%), age range between 51 and 60 years old (42%), multiparity (58%), body mass index overweight (55.9%), history of hypertension 54.2%, no history of diabetes mellitus DM (71.8%), Stage II disease (42.5%), Type I endometrioid 53.2%, and operative management 98.4%.

CONCLUSION: Our descriptive study concluded that most of patients were found in Stage II disease of endometrial cancer.


The patients who had whiplash injury have numerous physical and psychosomatic complaints, and clinical findings are so various that it is very difficult to treat them. We made the follow-up study from the psychosomatic standpoint on 189 patients with whiplash injuries who came to our clinic last year. The observation was done, on the one hand, from the psychiatrical standpoint using Cornell Medical Index, and the other, using our own classification; that is, to classify 4 stages from mild cases to serious ones, and made the interdependent relation. According to our observation mentioned above, there was no significant relation between the physiological and the psychosomatic conditions. On the other hand, we tried to know the factors involved in the psychosomatic condition.


We propose a new hypothesis, the Power of Certainty, to help explain agents' difficulties in making choices when there are multiple possible payoff-relevant states. In the probabilistic 'Acquiring-a-Company' problem an agent submits a price to a firm before knowing whether the firm is of low or high value. We construct a deterministic problem with a low and high value firm, where the agent submits a price that is sent to each firm separately. Subjects are much more likely to use dominant strategies in deterministic than in probabilistic problems, even though computations for profit maximization are identical for risk-neutral agents.


It has been shown previously that, in kittens, geniculate laminae that are visually deprived by a unilateral lid‐suture grow less than normal. However, cell growth is affected only where the deprived laminae lie opposite a normally innervated lamina. The most lateral part of lamina A, which is innervated from the monocular crescent of the visual field and which extends beyond the edge of lamina A1, is not affected by lid‐suture. One interpretation of this result is that a binocular competition controls geniculate cell growth and that the normal competitive balance is upset by the lid‐suture.


The aim of this paper is to address the issues of foreign direct investment (FDI) and to give a comparative analysis of its impact on Croatian competitiveness. Our findings show that in the case of Croatia, unlike in the other transition economies, the majority of inflows of foreign capital is concentrated in the service sector. Also, the impact on the overall Croatian competitiveness level has not been significant. High labour costs and production of low value addition in manufacturing were the main reasons why foreign capital sought mostly service sectors, such as telecommunications and banking, which are oriented towards the domestic markets. This did not contribute towards improving the Croatian export competitiveness either. Other transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe, where FDI went to manufacturing, particularly to the export oriented sectors, as well as to services, recorded a noticeable raise in their competitiveness levels.


Researchers have put their effort in tracking customer future purchases based on their past transaction behavior, such as recency, the time that has passed since the customer last purchase, and frequency, the number of purchases in the observation period. We extend the beta-geometric/beta-Bernoulli (BG/BB) model by incorporating another important metric, i.e., intensity which measures the whether a customer concentrates his purchases in a short period or purchases with a steadily. Though complex, our model can still be implemented easily in Microsoft Excel. Via an empirical application, we show that our model outperforms the BG/BB model in predicting the number of donations made by a targeted cohort of donators. Keywords—Customer-base, Data Mining, repeat buying, probability models.


In this paper, we have introduced an effective technique to remove the noise in the MRI and CT medical images during the process of acquisition, transmission, storage or compression. Removing these noise from medical images must be done without affecting relevant features of the image. Many techniques, such as genetic algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimization, Dynamic Multi-Swarm Particle Swarm Optimization and matching pursuit algorithm are used for denoising MRI and CT images. These techniques need more time to remove noise from medical images and find local point optimal. The proposed Differential Evolution based on Matching Pursuit (DE-MP) is used to detect best atom dictionary. The initial dictionary is created from an anisotropic atom. To evaluate the performance of the proposed techniques, the results of the proposed algorithm were compared with the other algorithm. The numerical results show that the performance of the proposed algorithm is more efficient and faster than other algorithms for medical images denoising.


Disclosed is a single-purpose sugar for cooking which comprises sweetener 0.5-99.9%, flavoring agent 0.1-99.5%, wherein the flavoring agent includes sodium glutamate, 5i»-sodium inosinate, disodium 5'-guanylate, sea weed extract, yeast extract, L-sodium glusate, the sweetener includes brown sugar, white sugar, crystal sugar, aspartame, sweeting agent, xylitol, Momordica grosvenori sweetener, fructose, glucose, oligosaccharide, AK sweetener, bee honey and saccharin sodium.


In the context of modulated‐symmetry distributions, there exist various forms of skew‐elliptical families. We present yet another one, but with an unusual feature: the modulation factor of the baseline elliptical density is represented by a distribution function with an argument that is not an odd function, as it occurs instead with the overwhelming majority of similar formulations, not only with other skew‐elliptical families. The proposal is obtained by going back to the use of a lemma known since 1999, which can be seen as the general frame for a vast number of existing formulations, and use it on a different route. The broader target is to show that this "mother lemma" can still generate novel progeny. The final part of the paper examines a further level of generalization of the "mother‐lemma" where symmetry conditions are removed. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In this study, we have characterised some of the morphological properties of the fractal dust aggregates generated using a sequen-tial algorithim. The fractals exists as domains of a particular domain length in the interstellar space. We present a simple and appealing method for determining the light scattering properties of these nu-merically generated fractal aggregates, based on the calculation of the pair correlation function and then fourier transforming it to yield the structure factor of the system. The behaviour of the intensity of light scattered as a function of scattering vector 'q' is studied in various small and large scale regimes as the system of scatterer evolves with time. This leads to the verification of Porod's law for such scatterers at different time scales. We observe a subsequent difference in the behaviour of the scattered intensity results of a single fractal aggregate and that of aggregates existing as domains over large areas of space. We also study the various light scattering properties of these fractal dust aggregates such as absorption, scattering and extinction efficien-cies using some of the complex and sophisticated light scattering tools like DDSCAT and T-Matrix. The results are then compared with the actual observations of the scattered light by comets.


There are 59-70 lakes in the Philippines. With the exception of Laguna de Bay and Lake Taal, little is known about Philippine lakes although they contribute as much as 15% to the total annual fisheries production of the country. There is need for an integrated basin approach for the sustainable management of Philippine lake resources. Among the research strategies recommended for sustainable management of Philippine lakes are: (1) studies on lake fisheries resources fish stock assessment, effects of fishing and other human activities on lake productivity, the biology of major aquatic species, and the carrying capacity of lakes; and (2) lake management studies the rational use of lakes, strengthening management, enforcement and institutional mechanisms, and socio-economics focused on the users of lakes.


On the basis of bringing forward the concept of intelligent logistics system (ILS), we use logistics theory and system analysis method to analyze the framework of ILS. According to the function of logistics activities, we choose intelligent and related techniques to provide reference to the design of ILS. At the end of this paper, we put forward the blue print of ILS in railway distribution.


To produce good and beautiful chrysanthemum pot with medium crown's height along with uniform and unified flowers, it is needed to apply growth inhibitor substance to suppress plant growth, namely Paclobutrazol. Therefore, an experiment was carried out at Seedling Farm of Agriculture and Forestry Faculty from February 2006. It was set up in a 2-factor randomized complete block design. First factor was Paclobutrazol concentrations consisting of 50, 100 and 150 mg L -1 water. Second one was frequencies of Paclobutrazol application, i.e. 1, 2 and 3 times. Paclobutrazol concentration of 50 mg L -1 gave highest number of leaf, earliest flowering time, highest number of flower, flower diameter and longest flower durance. One-time of Paclobutrazol application gave highest number of leaf, earliest flowering time, highest number of flower and flower diameter.


300 K in the irradiation dose range 0...1057 R. It was found that an increase in the irradiation dose leads to a noticeable decrease in the damping and the relative ultrasound velocity in the sample as a result of a decrease in the effective density of the dislocation segment L when it is fixed by radiation centers. Based on the results of measurements of acoustic characteristics, the absolute value of the damping factor of dislocations B is determined and compared with the literature data obtained from the high-frequency branch of dislocation resonance.


In 1875, the Secretariat Press of British Burma printed a collection of six Páli texts with a vernacular commentary and exposition. The fifth and most difficult, but, at the same time, the most interesting of all, is the one I am attempting to translate. The lack of critical editing and the general corruption of the text is sufficiently shown in the title Namakára, which may stand either for Namakáya 'a collection of panegyrics,' or Namakkára (Sansk. ) 'Reverence, worship.' The first stanza is a curious example of archaie punning. This "ekatthá," or tautological repetition, as it is called by the learned author of the "Subodhálaṅkara," is only permissible when it is desired to express fear, anger, or laudation. It is employed again in the 8th, 9th, and 22nd stanzas.


Postoperative pain (POP) management is still a challenge in everyday clinical practice, and despite therapeutic improvements of the last two decades, it still remains undertreated. POP influences peri-operative comorbidities and outcome, and can also become chronic, affecting patient's quality of life and increasing costs for the health system. POP is complex, as it is not purely inflammatory or neuropathic, but mixed; a multimodal approach combining different drugs and techniques (acting on different pain components) is mandatory, and is demonstrated to be a therapeutic approach to improve patient's outcome. In this short review we present new evidences regarding different drugs and techniques currently used in multimodal analgesia protocols, and we explain how these evidences should lead to a change in perspective. Physicians should plan perioperative pain treatment to treat not only pain itself, but choosing the best treatment according to patient history, concomitant pathologies and type of surgery, in order to reduce perioperative comorbidities, chronic pain incidence and, thus, improving outcome.


Numerical simulation of sequential collision behavior of multi-particles during dynamic formation of Al-based coating on magnesium alloy by supersonic particles deposition demonstrated that continuous tamping effect from subsequent sprayed particles improved significantly compression ratio of former deposited particle and promote effectively deformation and spread out. Analysis to morphology and microstructure of Al-based coating on magnesium alloy by SEM and TEM elicited that subsequent sprayed particles generated two effects including erosion and compaction to former deposited layer of the coating, induced formation of high density dislocation, grains refinement and re-crystallization, which played work-hardening strengthening effect and fine crystal strengthening effect to Al-Si coating.


The genus Pacarina Distant, 1905 is redescribed along with the description of the new species Pacarina shoemakeri sp. nov. Sanborn and M. Heath. The morphology, biogeography, calling song and thermal tolerances of P. shoemakeri sp. nov. are described and compared with the partially sympatric Pacarina puella Davis, 1923 ( = Cicada signifera Walker, 1858). A key to the species of Pacarina is provided. Pacarina, Beameria Davis, 1934, Ollanta Distant, 1905, Proarna Stål, 1864, Prasinosoma Torres, 1963, Ellasoneura Torres, 1964, Tympanoterpes Stål, 1861, Pompanonia Boulard, 1982 and Ariasa Distant, 1905 are formally assigned to the subtribe Guyalnina Boulard and Martinellli, 1996.


Financial inclusion increases savings, promotes investment and the expansion of the domestic market, and consequently favors economic growth. In this work, the evolution of a set of indicators of financial inclusion is analyzed simultaneously with a group of macroeconomic variables. The methodology applied is a particular type of neural network, called Self Organizing Maps (SOM). The data is for the years 2011, 2014 and 2017 including data from 37 countries belonging to three great regions: Latin America, Europe and Asia. The results show that there are five groups of countries with similar characteristics of financial inclusion and macroeconomic indicators, nonetheless, there are countries that move through different groups over the years studied. Also, there is evidence that the macroeconomic variables are related with the levels of financial inclusion; those countries with great GDP per capita, higher education and employment, present better levels of financial inclusion.


To compare adverse medication events (AMEs) reported in children, via the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD‐10) coding with events reported via other data sources.


The rare-earth elements (REEs) are becoming more and more important, because of their essential role in permanent magnets, lamp phosphors, catalysts and rechargeable batteries. The increasing popularity of hybrid and electric cars, wind turbines and compact fluorescent lamps is causing an unprecedented increase in the demand and price of REEs. In its landmark report Critical Raw Materials for the European Union (2010), the European Commission considers the REEs as the most critical elements, with the highest supply risk. With China presently producing more than 90% of the global production of the REEs, Europe is heavily dependent on China, even though it possesses less than 40% of the proven reserves. China is not only mining REEs, but is also specialised in the extraction of REEs from ores, in the separation of concentrates of REEs in the individual elements, and in the production of REE permanent magnets and lamp phosphors from purified REEs. Because of large domestic demands, China tightened its REE export quota from 50.145 tonnes in 2009 to only 31.130 tonnes in 2012. This causes serious problems for consumers of REEs outside China, and also for the development of a more sustainable, low-carbon economy. Mining companies are now actively seeking for new exploitable rare earths deposits and old mines are reopened. For instance, the Mountain Pass Mine in California has restarted production in 2012. Because the REE deposits in Europe are still at the stage of exploration, the opening of new mines is unlikely in the near future and Europe has to rely on recycling of REEs from preconsumer scrap and (often complex, multi-material) End-of-Life products ("urban mining"). However, as recently pointed out in the influential UNEP report Recycling Rates of Metals (2011), less than 1% of the REEs are currently being recycled, mainly due to inefficient collection, technological problems and (until now) lack of incentives. Furthermore, used permanent magnets and other REE-containing waste are currently shipped back to China, resulting in a significant loss of valuable resources. A drastic improvement in End-of-Life recycling rates for REEs in Europe is, therefore, an absolute necessity, in line with the goals of the EU's Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe (2011). This can only be realised by developing new efficient recycling routes. This talk will give an overview of the problems and possible solutions associated with the recycling of the rare earths two main applications of REEs: permanent magnets and lamp phosphors. These two applications represent more than 70% of the rare-earth market by value. Special emphasis will be paid to the development of sustainable closed materials loops for the rare earths.


Ultra-wideband (UWB) communication is a viable technology to provide high data rates over broadband wireless channels for applications, including wireless multimedia, wireless Internet access, and future-generation mobile communication systems (Karaoguz, 2001; Stoica et al., 2005). Two of the most critical challenges in the implementation of UWB systems are the timing acquisition and channel estimation. The difficulty in them arises from UWB signals being the ultra short low-duty-cycle pulses operating at very low power density. The Rake receiver (Turin, 1980) as a prevalent receiver structure for UWB systems utilizes the high diversity in order to effectively capture signal energy spread overmultiple paths and boost the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, to perform maximal ratio combining (MRC), the Rake receiver needs the timing information of the received signal and the knowledge of the channel parameters, namely, gains and tap delays. Timing errors as small as fractions of a nanosecond could seriously degrade the system performance (Lovelace & Townsend, 2002; Tian & Giannakis, 2005). Thus, accurate timing acquisition and channel estimation is very essentially for UWB systems. Many research efforts have been devoted to the timing acquisition and channel estimation of UWB signals. However, most reported methods suffer from the restrictive assumptions, such as, demanding a high sampling rates, a set of high precision time-delay systems or invoking a line search, which severally limits their usages. In this chapter, we are focusing on the low sampling rate time acquisition schemes and channel estimation algorithms of UWB signals. First, we develop a novel optimum data-aided (DA) timing offset estimator that utilizes only symbol-rate samples to achieve the channel delay spread scale timing acquisition. For this purpose, we exploit the statistical properties of the power delay profile of the received signals to design a set of the templates to ensure the effective multipath energy capture at any time. Second, we propose a novel optimum data-aided channel estimation scheme that only relies on frame-level sampling rate data to derive channel parameter estimates from the received waveform. The simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Low Sampling Rate Time Acquisition Schemes and Channel Estimation Algorithms of Ultra-Wideband Signals